Friday, May 5, 2017

Press Statement by M Kula Segaran, DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Ipoh Barat in Ipoh on May 4, 2017

Let me remind Subramaniam and the BN government that what they should produce to win the support of the Indian community is results and not blueprint

After attending the ‘MIC Retreat: Gearing Towards the 14th General Election’ programme at Aimst University , MIC president, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam had told reporters that MIC aims to win at least seven parliamentary and 14 state seats in the coming 14th General Election (GE14).He said MIC has identified its chances of winning six out of the nine parliamentary seats to be contested in the 14th General Election and, if possible, will try to secure seven seats.

“At the state level, although in the last general election we only contested in 18 seats, this time however, we will contest all 19 seats and aim to win at least 13 or 14 seats,” he said.

He also said he was confident of the matter based on the current work on the ground carried out by the party machinery, such as encouraging new voters to register as well as carrying out activities with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help the people.

It is good for a leader to have confidence and I congratulate Subramaniam for having the confidence that MIC can do well in the coming general election though I don’t think he should be so optimistic.I wish to remind him that to win voter support, he should produce results and achievements by the BN government since the last general election and not by mere talk only.

Could he explain to the people especially the Indian community, 4 years after the last general election, what has MIC and the BN federal government done for the Indian community?

Could he say that he is satisfied with what that has been done to address and resolve the many long standing issues faced by the Indian community in economic, education, employment, social, and civil service sectors?

The Special Implementation Taskforce on the Indian Community (Prime Minister's Department) was established in June 2010 to ensure that Malaysian Indians are able to access the services, programs and projects of the Federal government in a just, fair and equitable way.

Could he explain that after being chairman of this Task force, how much has achieved? Why has this Task Force become a disappointment in terms of delivering results?

Surely if MIC has done well in serving the interest of the Indian community and has achieved much worthy of boasting, Subrmaniam will have no reason to be silent about its performance.Speaking at the opening of MIC's 70th annual assembly on Oct last year, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib said an Indian blueprint was necessary because his past initiatives for Indians had not effectively trickled down to the community's grassroots.

Hence, when Najib recently launched the Blueprint for the Indians, it basically means that the government has not been effective in helping the community.Actually, the launch of the Blueprint is a reflection of MIC’s failure as a political party which claims to champion the interest of the Indian community.

BN has been in power for decades and if it is sincere, committed and serious about helping the Indian community, many long standing issues would have been resolved.

Lets be frank nothing much is going to change unless there is a change of Government at the federal level.

Let me remind Subramaniam and the BN government that what they should produce to win the support of the Indian community is results and not blueprint.